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Geometrodynamics of Gauge Fields

On the Geometry of Yang-Mills and Gravitational Gauge Theories

  • A comprehensive revision of a classic text relating geometic field theory to modern physics
  • Offers an up-to-date overview of geometrodynamics including minimal topological models
  • Contains new chapters on teleparalelism, Chern-Simons-induced topological 3D gravity and supergravity, quantization via topological ghosts, constrained BF model with SL (5, R) gauge group, and chiral and trace anomalies
  • Provides a detailed exposition of frame bundles in gravity
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Mathematical Physics Studies (MPST)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
  2. Historical Background

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 1-12
  3. Geometry of Gauge Fields

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 13-35
  4. Maxwell and Yang–Mills Theory

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 37-63
  5. Gravitation as a Gauge Theory

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 65-94
  6. Einstein–Cartan Theory

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 95-107
  7. Teleparallelism

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 109-136
  8. Yang’s Theory of Gravity

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 137-159
  9. BRST Quantization of Gravity

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 161-179
  10. Gravitational Instantons

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 181-195
  11. Three-Dimensional Gravity

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 197-225
  12. Spinor Bundles

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 227-259
  13. Chiral Anomalies

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 261-273
  14. Geometrodynamics and Its Extensions

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 293-328
  15. Color Geometrodynamics

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 329-345
  16. Geometric Model of Quark Confinement?

    • Eckehard W. Mielke
    Pages 347-358
  17. Back Matter

    Pages 359-373

About this book

This monograph aims to provide a unified, geometrical foundation of gauge theories of elementary particle physics. The underlying geometrical structure is unfolded in a coordinate-free manner via the modern mathematical notions of fibre bundles and exterior forms. Topics such as the dynamics of Yang-Mills theories, instanton solutions and topological invariants are included.  By transferring these concepts to local space-time symmetries, generalizations of Einstein's theory of gravity arise in a Riemann-Cartan space with curvature and torsion. It provides the framework in which the (broken) Poincaré gauge theory, the Rainich geometrization of the Einstein-Maxwell system, and higher-dimensional, non-abelian Kaluza-Klein theories are developed.

Since the discovery of the Higgs boson, concepts of spontaneous  symmetry breaking in gravity have come again into focus, and, in this revised edition,  these will be exposed in geometric terms.  Quantizing gravity remains an open issue: formulating it as a de Sitter type gauge theory in the spirit of Yang-Mills, some new progress in its topological form is presented. After symmetry breaking, Einstein’s standard general relativity with cosmological constant emerges as a classical background. The geometrical structure of BRST quantization with non-propagating topological ghosts is developed in some detail.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Departamento de Física, CBI Iztapalapa, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitan, Mexico City, Mexico

    Eckehard W. Mielke

About the author

Eckehard Mielke has been Professor in the Department of Physics, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico since 1997.  His work has covered the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, knot theory and wormholes, conformal changes of metrics, Poincaré gauge theory and its metric-affine generalizations, double dual solutions, topological models of gravity with Chern-Simons terms, Ashtekar variables, boson stars, dark matter, and inflationary cosmology.

He is the author of the Springer book "Sonne, Mond und .... Schwarze Locher" (1997) (Sun, Moon and...Black Holes), a popular book offering a short trip through recent developments in astronomy.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access